New England

Prison Education Collaborative

Bi-Monthly Newsletter

April 30, 2026 | Issue No. 10

Hello,

Welcome to the latest edition of the NEPEC newsletter, your bi-monthly update from our team on our collective efforts to expand high-quality postsecondary education opportunities for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals across New England.

In This Issue

1. Funding Opportunity: Accelerator Grants Cycle 2

2. New England 2026 Prison Education Program Approvals

3. Emerson Prison Initiative's InThrive Film Festival

4. Two New Engalnd Programs Among Five Selected for Hudson Link National

Grant

5. Massachusetts State House Briefing

6. NEPEC Attends the National Conference on Higher Education in Prison

7. Upcoming Events and Opportunities

8. Staying Connected

Funding Opportunity:
Accelerator Grants Cycle 2

The New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC), with support from Ascendium Education Group, announces the release of its Request for Proposals for the second round of Accelerator Grants. Four Accelerator Grants will be awarded to eligible higher education institutions located across the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont for projects that aim to increase credit mobility for students in Pell-eligible prison education programming in their state.

Projects may focus on developing or expanding transfer pathways, building partnerships, or implementing credit for prior learning or prior learning assessment processes for currently and formerly incarcerated students. Applicants are asked to submit proposals for $100,000 of funding for use over a 12-month grant period. The next cycle of Accelerator Grants will be released in the same time frame in 2027. As was the case in the inaugural cycle, the Accelerator Grant proposal criteria for year two were developed in collaboration with NEPEC’s Higher Education Working Group, whose members have substantial national and regional expertise in higher education in prison.

Eligibility

Eligible institutions include any public or independent higher education institution in New England that seeks to carry out a project focused on one of the five approved activities:

A New England postsecondary institution—or a consortium of institutions—with an approved PEP seeking support for the creation or reconstruction of a transfer pathway—including pathways that leverage stackable credentials to accelerate momentum and provide greater flexibility and more academic options for students, which ensures the mobility—including applicability— of academic credits earned during incarceration.
A New England PEP that is seeking support for the creation of a reverse transfer pathway, enabling currently or formerly incarcerated students who made progress toward an associate degree prior to transferring to a four-year degree pathway to transfer credits earned at the four-year institution back to their community college to complete the associate degree requirements.
A consortium of New England postsecondary institutions seeking to create a multi-state transfer agreement, allowing for the mobility of credits earned in carceral facilities across state lines.
A New England PEP seeking support to train staff in their academic services office on how to assess transcripts from people who are returning from incarceration.
A New England PEP that is seeking support for implementing a comprehensive credit for prior learning (CPL) or prior learning assessment (PLA) process—or meaningfully expanding an existing one.

Proposals will need to demonstrate how funds will accelerate the institution’s work towards one of the above activities and outline a sustainability plan for long-term success.

Timeline

The application for proposals is now open and will close on Friday, May 29, 2026, at 5 PM E.T. For more information on the application process, institutions are encouraged to join the NEPEC team for an informational webinar on May 6, 2026, at 12 P.M. ET. Register here. For additional inquiries, please email nepec@nebhe.org.

Click here to download the Cycle 2 Request for Proposals

New England 2026
Prison Education Program Approvals

The NEPEC Team would like to congratulate the following New England institutions for receiving approval to operate as a Prison Education Program as of January 1, 2026:

Community College of Rhode Island (Rhode Island)
Credentials:
Four credit-bearing, stackable certificate programs
Facility:
John J. Moran Medium Security Facility

CT State Community College (Connecticut)
Credentials:
Two associate degrees
Four undergraduate certificates
Facilities:
Garner Correctional Institution (associate degrees and certificate)
Cheshire Correctional Institution (associate degree)
York Correctional Institution (associate degree and certificate)
Brooklyn Correctional Institution (associate degrees and certificate)
Cybulski Community Reintegration Center (associate degrees and certificates)
MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution (associate degrees and certificates)
Osborn Correctional Institution (associate degrees and certificates)
Robinson Correctional Institution (associate degrees and certificates)

Franklin Cummings Tech (Massachusetts)
Credentials:
Eight associate degrees
Two undergraduate certificates
Facility:
Boston Pre-Release Center (in collaboration with the School of Reentry)

Mount Wachusett Community College (Massachusetts)
Credentials:
One associate degree
Two undergraduate certificates
Facilities:
North Central Correctional Institute-Gardner (associate degree and certificate)
MCI-Shirley (associate degree and certificate)

White Mountains Community College (New Hampshire)
Credentials:
Two associate degrees
Facility:
Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility

University of New Haven (Connecticut)
Credentials:
One associate degree
One baccalaureate degree
Facilities:
MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution
Federal Correctional Institution-Danbury

Has your program been approved as a PEP in this calendar year? Please reach out to nepec@nebhe.org and we will spotlight this achievement in our next newsletter.

Emerson Prison Initiative's
InThrive Film Festival

The NEPEC team was excited to attend the second annual Emerson Prison Initiative (EPI)'s InThrive Film Festival on March 16th and 17th.

NEPEC Director Sarah Kuczynski attended EPI's special showing of Two Wolves and On Beyond Fences inside Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Norfolk on Monday, March 16th. The event was organized in response to interest from incarcerated learners who are currently pursuing their degrees through EPI. EPI Director MneeshaGellman moderated a post-film panel with Commissioners Shawn Jenkins (MA) and Randall Liberty (ME), looking at what MA might learn from ME, and drawing on Commissioner Liberty’s recently released memoir, Liberty’s Prison: The Inmate’s Son Who Radically Reformed an American Prison.

Project Manager Zeia Fawaz and Project Coordinator Quinn Barton attended screenings at the Emerson Paramount Theater in downtown Boston on Tuesday, March 17th, the second day of the festival.

Zeia attended a screening of 9th & Gasoline, a visual album by currently incarcerated artist Alexis B, presented in partnership with Freer Records. The film weaves together music videos with narrative interludes to tell Alexis B’s story, with scenes set across a makeshift prison studio, her home, and the home of BL Shirelle, Co-Executive Director of Freer Records. Freer Records is a nonprofit record label that uplifts and produces the work of artists impacted by incarceration, ensuring their voices are heard and affirms their humanity. Following the film, Cara Moyer-Duncan, Associate Professor and Assistant Director at EPI, moderated a panel discussion featuring BL Shirelle, Fury Young, Co-Executive Director and Founder of Freer Records, and Charlie Rosario, Program Coordinator at EPI.

Quinn attended a showing of And Water Brings Tomorrow, an exploratory film following formerly incarcerated leaders and advocates who are seeking to precipitate prison closures and think critically about how former carceral spaces are repurposed. The film follows several organizations across the United States, including A New Way of Life Reentry Project in Los Angeles, CA, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), and the Interfaith Movement of Human Integrity as they all fight to uphold the dignity of incarcerated individuals and reimagine former carceral spaces as places where crucial loss and reckoning can be catalyzed.

Thank you to EPI for hosting such an engaging event that helped to spotlight the efforts of leaders, advocates, and musicians in the field who are working to center the voices and experiences of incarcerated people and remove barriers to successful reentry.

Two New England Programs
Among Five Selected
for Hudson Link National Grant

Hudson Link, a New York-based nonprofit that provides reentry support and works with college partners to sustain postsecondary programming in correctional facilities, has announced five institutions that will be receiving technical assistance through their newly launched national initiative. Two New England-based postsecondary programs — Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College and Reentry Program and Yale Prison Education Initiative at Dwight Hall - University of New Haven — are among the five who will comprise this inaugural cohort.

According to Hudson Link news, this funding—of up to $50,000—will “support the creation of effective continuing education curricula, transitional housing initiatives, comprehensive case management processes, peer mentorship, and more.” The funds will be disbursed in two installments over the one-year grant period.

The Yale Prison Education Initiative (YPEI) at Dwight Hall works in partnership with University of New Haven (UNH) to enable students to matriculate in two- and four-year college degrees and brings together both campuses to support formerly incarcerated alumni of higher education in prison.

"Since its founding, the Yale Prison Education Initiative (YPEI) has been deeply inspired by Hudson Link and the comprehensive services it provides to incarcerated students and formerly incarcerated alumni," shared Zelda Roland, Founding Director of YPEI at Dwight Hall. "Now, YPEI is so grateful for this opportunity to learn from its nationally recognized model and to work closely with members of the Hudson Link team as YPEI strengthens reentry support for students inside and returning home, and in particular as we look at new approaches to assisting students with stable housing that helps them thrive."

Like the YPEI and UNH partnership, Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT) works with Bunker Hill Community College to create a 2+2 pathway for students, enabling them to earn an associate degree from Bunker Hill Community College that then folds into a baccalaureate degree from Tufts. Tufts also offers the MyTERN program, a year-long, trauma-informed reentry program that combines Tufts coursework, a Civic Studies certificate, and wraparound support in housing, employment, technology, financial literacy, and social-emotional well-being.

“We are so excited to be able to partner more formally with an organization and people we’ve admired since TUPIT began in 2016,” said Hilary Binda, Founder and Executive Director of TUPIT. “As we approach next year’s 10 Years of TUPIT, we remain truly inspired by the incredible academic, personal, and world-changing accomplishments of our many students. Reflecting on 58 college degrees earned and the college-to-career pathway our MyTERN program has enabled, we are excited to build that program even further through this partnership with Hudson Link and the other brilliant programs participating.”

Massachusetts State House Briefing

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026, the NEPEC Team facilitated a briefing at the Massachusetts State House to emphasize what lawmakers need to know to support meaningful increases in access to higher education in correctional facilities across the Commonwealth. The briefing was hosted by the Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, which is led by co-chairs Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representative Mary S. Keefe.

Sarah Kuczynski, Director of the New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC) and Transfer Initiatives at the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) kicked things off by providing a foundational overview of current higher education program provision, which covered the programs that are offered and in which facilities as well as spring totals for student participation in each instance. This data-driven overview was followed by a panel featuring four leaders of degree-granting higher education in prison programs across the state:

Hilary Binda, Founder and Executive Director, Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College
Patrick Conway, Ignacio Chair and Program Director, Boston College Prison Education Program
Mneesha Gellman, Founder and Director, Emerson Prison Initiative
Tressa Stazinski, Director of Correctional Education, Mount Wachusett Community College

From left to right: Zeia Fawaz (NEBHE), Sarah Kuczynski (NEBHE), Patrick Conway (Boston College Prison Education Program), Mneesha Gellman (Emerson Prison Initiative), Senator Jamie Eldridge (Middlesex and Worcester), Hilary Binda (Tufts University Prison Initiative), Representative Mary Keefe (Worcester), Quinn Barton (NEBHE), and Tressa Stazinksi (Mount Wachusett Community College).

The panelists provided an overview of their operational reality and current funding model. Sarah moderated.

The panel featured discussion of some examples of states beyond the New England region where investments are being made through budget line items on an annual or biennial basis. A robust Q&A led into an open networking opportunity for all in attendance.

The team was incredibly pleased to see most of the program providers in the state represented among the over 60 folks in attendance. Beyond this, the team was thrilled with the turnout from legislative offices—signaling an increasing interest in the role the state might play in supporting the practice of higher education in prison across Massachusetts.

NEPEC Attends the

National Conference on

Higher Education in Prison

The NEPEC team was excited to be in Cleveland, Ohio from April 7th to 11th for the National Conference on Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP), hosted by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.

On the first two days, NEPEC Director Sarah Kuczynski and Project Manager Zeia Fawaz attended pre-conference programming for Ascendium Education Philanthropy's Statewide Higher Education in Prison Learning Community. The program for this convening provided a forum for leaders of state consortia across the nation to share insights into their state’s carceral landscape, educational infrastructure, as well as oversight and governance entities.

Simultaneously, Project Coordinator Quinn Barton attended the American Institutes for Research (AIR)'s Higher Education in Prison Technical Assistance Community of Practice, where the group conducted a deep dive into technical assistance coaching roles and mapped the current higher education in prison ecosystem, identifying ways the group could worked collectively to fill current gaps in the field.

The formal conference kicked off with welcome remarks from the Alliance’s Executive Director Ved Price and Kerri Moseley-Hobbs, Director of the Policy, Implementation, and Liaison Group within the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid and then a plenary panel, which Sarah had the honor of moderating. The lively discussion featured Stanley Andrisse, Executive Director, Prison to Professionals (P2P); Heather Perfetti, President of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education; Jennifer Sanders, Director, Technical Assistance for Corrections at Jobs for the Future; and Nahlee Suvanvej, Director, Higher Education in Prison at Portland State University.

From left to right: Sarah Kuczynski (NEBHE), Stanley Andrisse (Prison to Professionals), Heather Perfetti (Middle States Commission on Higher Education), Jennifer Sanders (Jobs for the Future), and Nahlee Suvavej (Higher Education in Prison at Portland State University).

The group reflected on the current state of higher education in prison and their unique perspectives on NCHEP's theme of "Beyond Access."

From left to right: Sarah Kuczynski (NEBHE), Haley Shoaf (Unlocked Labs), Leah Maciejewski (White Mountains Community College), and Nicholas Duffy (New Hampshire Department of Corrections).

On Friday, Sarah moderated a panel that presented lessons for the field from the NEPEC team’s ecosystem approach to cross-agency statewide planning in New Hampshire. The panel featured the following key stakeholders who have been instrumental in advancing work in the Granite State: Nicholas Duffy, Director of Rehabilitative Services at the New Hampshire Department of Corrections; Leah Maciejewski, Vice President of Academic Affairs at White Mountains Community College; and Haley Shoaf, Founder and Director at Unlocked Labs.

After the conference concluded, the NEPEC team hosted a gathering of colleagues and partners from across New England at the Whistle Taproom & Venue in downtown Cleveland. Attendees got the chance to reflect on NCHEP and consider how to apply key insights upon returning to New England while enjoying good food and fellowship.

NCHEP 2026 was a week full of engaging conversations and the exchange of exciting insights; the NEPEC team left energized in its commitment to this incredible field.Thank you to Ved Price and the stellar team at the Alliance for hosting such a successful national conference—with the largest number of attendees for NCHEP to date.

Pictured are the written reflections of New England stakeholders who attended NEPEC's post-NCHEP gathering.

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

NEPEC Virtual Events

Accelerator Grants Cycle 2 Webinar

May 6, 2026 | Virtual (Microsoft Teams)

NEPEC on the Road

Boston College Prison Education Program Concert

May 4, 2026 | Chestnut Hill, MA

University of Maine at Augusta Prison Education Partnership 2026 Commencement Ceremony

May 20, 2026 | Warren, ME

White Mountains Community College 2026 Prison Education Program Commencement Ceremony

May 20, 2026 | Berlin, NH

Wesleyan University Center for Prison Education Sixth Commencement Ceremony

May 28, 2026 | Niantic, CT

Tufts University Prison Initiative Graduation Ceremony

June 2, 2026 | Shirley, MA

Jobs for the Future Horizons Conference

July 13-14, 2026 | Washington, DC

SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference

August 3-6, 2026 | Chicago, IL

Stay Connected

Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we work to make postsecondary education accessible to all learners who are incarcerated in New England. We look forward to keeping you informed and engaged in our shared mission.

Best regards,

The NEPEC Team

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ABOUT NEPEC:

The New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC) is a regional initiative led by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE). In February 2024, NEBHE was awarded five years of grant funding from Ascendium Education Group to establish the Collaborative to build upon the recommendations of the 2023 New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Prison, a nine-month regional convening of leaders from across multiple sectors aimed at preparing the region for the reinstatement of federal Pell Grants for all currently incarcerated learners.

Through this initiative, NEBHE seeks to accelerate, support, and collaborate to help create a future where every incarcerated person in New England has access to high-quality, workforce-aligned, equitable postsecondary opportunities with a diverse range of educational pathways.